ICICI Bank appoints 2 additional directors as part of board makeover

ICICI Bank appointed two additional independent directors on Monday, continuing the attempt to improve the private sector lender's reputation as well as governance standards.

"The board of directors of the bank at its meeting held today appointed B Sriram and Rama Bijapurkar as additional (independent) directors of the bank with effect from January 14, 2019, for a period of five years, subject to the approval of shareholders," said the bank in a filing to the exchanges.

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Sriram was MD and CEO of IDBI Bank from June 30, 2018, to September 29, 2018. Previously, he was working with the State Bank of India (SBI) for 37 years after joining the bank as a probationary officer in 1981. He has held various key assignments within the bank and the group in credit and risk, retail, operations, IT, treasury, investment banking and international operations.

Bijapurkar is the co-founder of People Research on India's Consumer Economy, a think tank and fact tank focused on providing the "people view" of India's economy and citizen environment. She is also an independent management consultant and a regular visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad. She has served on the boards of various blue-chip companies, governing councils of academic institutions and public service institutions in the country.

The bank's incumbent MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar was embroiled in controversy regarding allegations of conflict of interest and misconduct in sanction of loans. Subsequently, the bank saw multiple board-level changes in the previous year.

In October, Sandeep Bakhshi replaced Kochhar as the bank's MD & CEO as Kocchar sought retirement. Bakhshi was already serving as the bank's interim CEO since June while Kochhar went on leave pending the bank's probe into the allegations against her. While the bank had appointed Bakhshi for a five-year term, the central bank only approved a term of three years. It is believed that the bank under Bakhshi will take a more calibrated approach to lending.

In June, the bank also appointed former bureaucrat Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as chairman to replace MK Sharma at the end of his term. Chaturvedi has been vocal about improving governance within the bank.